


Born to those who have thrice defied him.

by marinvm



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25020790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marinvm/pseuds/marinvm
Summary: “Oh sweet jesus.”“Uhm ….”“Who?”“I don’t know, I’m confused.”“Peter, say something.’”“Why me? Ask Remus!”Lily hears someone scoffing and of course that someone is none other than Sirius Black. “I bet Evans gave us the wrong address on purpose.”“She would never do that!” James says quickly, coming in her defense. Nobody talks for a second, then James speaks again. “She would definitely do that.” he says, sounding very much distressed.Lily doesn’t know how it’s possible but she’s pretty sure she hears Remus Lupin literally rolling his eyes outside her house. “You are all embarrassing.” he says with the voice of a person who is used to all this nonsense, isn’t happy about it but accepts either way. “I know where Lily lives. I’ve been here before hence I know this is the right address.”“And Remus Lupin never gets things wrong, right?”
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Born to those who have thrice defied him.

There’s a tenuous knock on the door and Lily Evans turns around just in time to see her father’s head peeking into her room. He doesn’t come in immediately but he lingers on the doorframe with a look that Lily has properly learnt to associate with bad news.

“Vernon is here, honey.”

And that's definitely bad news. It takes every ounce of strength in her body to not being rude and say something that her father wouldn’t certainly approve. Or maybe he would approve, silently ... in his head, since Lily knows for sure that George Evans hates Vernon Dursley as much as Lily does. He just can’t make it public. Not when his wife and his daughter are in the living room on the floor below, talking and laughing with aforementioned person.

“Do I really have to do this?” Lily asks with a groan. 

“You mean having this conversation?”

Lily groans again and she rolls her eyes too but luckily his father doesn't notice because his head is turned toward the stairs, probably making sure that no one is coming or more importantly, that no one is listening. Only after hearing three distinct voices coming from the living room, his father moves his attention back on her again and, almost whispering, he asks: “Can I come in?” 

“Yes, dad. You can come in.” Lily says with a laugh. Her father mouths a thank you as he comes in and carefully closes the door behind him. Silence surrounds them for a second and then Petunia’s thunderous laugh rambles through the walls, ruining the peaceful atmosphere.

Dad makes a face. “Vernon is probably telling one of his boring jokes about drills.”

“He still does that? I thought there were no more jokes to tell at this point!”

"He's making them up now.” 

“Now I’m not sorry anymore for missing all those meetings and dinners in the last couple of months.” Lily says as she makes her rolling chair sliding through the room with her feet. Her father seats on the bed and she stops right in front of him, their knees almost brushing each other.

“You should still feel sorry about that. Leaving me all alone, with no one I could ask for help. I was forced to laugh at every joke and most of them weren't even funny. I just kept laughing. I had to.” her father shakes his head as if he’s not believing his own words. “It was terrible.”

Lily starts giggling.“I’m sorry, dad.” she says and she really means it. 

She knows her sister is not a joy to be around and her boyfriend is not far behind. Lily doesn’t know Vernon very well, to be honest. They only met twice, both of which were quick and boring, but definitely enough for Lily to paint a very detailed picture of him in her mind. First of all, Vernon Dursley hated Lily since the very first moment he laid eyes on her. Perhaps even before. And there is only one person to thank for it.

Petunia has never missed an opportunity to badmouth Lily since the day they found out she was a witch. Over the last few years, Lily never confronted her. She thought that Petunia just needed time to accept the fact that Lily was different and nothing could have changed that. But time flew by and one year became two and then three and then four and so on, until it was clear like water to Lily that things were destined to remain the same as the day her sister called her a monster for the first time. 

The actual state of her relationship with Petunia used to bother her so much when she was a kid. But Lily grew up and she soon realized there were worse things happening in the world than worrying about a sister who wanted her gone more than everything. 

Her father points a finger to Lily's face. “You should be.”

“I promise I won’t ever leave you alone again at times like this.”

“Just promise me that this James of yours is nothing lik- ”

“Dad.” Lily interrupts him before he could finish the sentence. Partly because talking about her very unclear relationship status to her own father is quite awkward but mostly because the mere idea of James being compared to that useless man is giving Lily all kind of negative creeps. "First of all, James is not my boyfriend.” She pauses for a second, unsure. “Not yet.” she adds, confusion ringing in her own words. They didn’t even kiss, for Merlin’s beard. “And second, I promise you that he’s nothing like Vernon.” Lily gives her father a serious smile. “You and mom are really going to like him.”

A scoff escapes from her dad’s mouth. “Fathers don’t like boys who try to take their little girls away from them.”

Lily playfully nudges his leg with her foot. “That’s why you are here with me instead of being downstairs listening to dear Vernon?”

“Part of the reason, yes. But also because your sister can do much better than him.”

Lily says nothing for a moment. Parents don’t always want to acknowledge the fact that their own children have flaws. They don’t talk about it because it’s easier that way, sometimes. Maybe that’s exactly what’s happening with her family. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard for her father to realize, in fact, that Vernon Dursley and Petunia Evans deserves each other because they are made for each others. 

However, Lily doesn’t feel the need to break his father’s heart with the revelation that his older daughter is not the innocent little girl they still think she is so she shrugs and says: “I guess so.”

“And what do you mean when you say that he’s not your boyfriend yet?” her father asks with a frown. From that distance, Lily can spot deep and definitely new wrinkles dotting his forehead.

“We are …. taking it slow.” Lily tries to explain.

“Do you like him?”

Lily is taken aback by how quick she replies and how sincere she sounds. “Yes.” 

“Does he like you back?”

“I guess." Lily says, trying to play it cool but her mind is instinctively and already taking her back to all those times in which James Potter had tried to ask her out and all those times that she had refused over the last couple of years.

Her father lifts his hands in the air. “Where’s the problem, then?”

Lily looks at him. She looks into those beautiful green eyes and for a moment she ponders the possibility of telling him about the drastic situation in her world, telling him about the hundreds of witches and wizards who already lost their lives to fight a battle that seems so impossible to overcome. Telling him about the war, about death eaters, telling him about Voldemort. Lily’s parents know only what Lily wants them to know about the magic world. When they ask questions, Lily answers. Sometimes she lies, sometimes she does not. The important thing is keeping them safe, that’s what Lily has been trying to do since Voldemort has gained enough power to spread fear and death around the world. The less they know, the less they worry about her and the less they try to get involved. As simple as that.

And then, there is the fact that Lily herself is still confused about her feelings for James. Only one year ago, the mere mention of the boy would have caused in Lily a series of negative emotions such as annoyance, anger and indifference. Now she’s barely keeping it together at the thought of seeing him again tomorrow, after almost three months. Not to mention the amount of letters they have been writing to each other since they got home for the summer. 

“Honey?” 

Lily snaps back into the room. Her father is looking at her, concerned.

“Are you alright?

“Yes, sorry. Just thinking.” Lily replies with a shrug. She smiles a her father before giving the chair a small push with her feet. She slides through the room again until she’s back in front of her desk. Outside the window, she sees Lady, James’s owl, perched on the ledge, her white feathers like a bright lighthouse in the dark night. She is looking at Lily with her big, dark brown eyes, expectantly and extremely annoyed and that’s when Lily remembers why she’s here and what she’s waiting for.

“You are going to meet him, tomorrow. So no more questions, now.” she says distractedly as she picks up her quill. 

“But …” her father gets off the bed and walks closer to her. “Who am I going to meet, tomorrow? You friend ? Or your future boyfriend?”

“Dad …”

“I’m just saying. It is a pretty confusing situation.”

Lily turns to look at him with a smirk. “You are going to meet a dear friend of mine who I might like more than a friend. And you are also going to meet all my friends, in case you forgot. Not just James.”

“We already know Remus. Me and your mother are crazy about him. I thought we made that pretty clear.”

“Oh you did!" Lily says with a genuine laugh. "But as I already said to mom last week, there are going to be some new people in the group.” 

“Alright, alright.” her father looks at his watch and makes a face. “We should really go down, now. Your mother is probably going to kill me for leaving her alone all this time.”

“Okay. I just need to finish this.” Lily says. She adds a couple of things very quickly at the end of the parchment, then grabs a leather lace from the desk drawer and ties it cautiously around Lady’s scaly leg.

“I’m sorry about the waiting.” Lily whispers, giving Lady some delicate pats on the head. The owl makes a screeching sound but Lily knows they are okay the moment she starts gently biting her fingers. She gives Lily one last friendly peck on her hand before spreading her wings and taking off into the night.

Lily looks at her until she can’t see her anymore. Then, her father puts his hand on her shoulder and squeezes it, lightly.

“Are you ready?”

“You know me, dad.” Lily says, her eyes still pointed to the sky. “I’m always ready to give Petunia a new reason to hate me.”

*

Dinner with Vernon and Petunia goes as smoothly as a dinner with Vernon and Petunia can go. Much to Lily’s delight, none of them showed much interest in talking to her or about her or about her school or about her life in general. Vernon asked a few courtesy questions, such as “ how are you?” or “how is your summer going” and that was it for the rest of the night.

To this day, Lily still isn’t sure if Vernon knows the truth about her but judging by the way he kept personal questions to a minimum, Lily guessed that Petunia very likely must have mentioned something to him. Not everything and definitely not the entire truth but either way Lily isn’t particularly thrilled to know.

And now, after helping her mother with clearing the table and washing the dishes (she would have used some magic for that but Vernon’s presence made that task pretty hard), she is back, safe and sound, in her bedroom again. 

It’s only 9:00 pm, still pretty early for Lily to got to sleep but honestly she doesn’t have anything better to do at the moment so she changes into her pajamas, brushes her teeth and slips under the covers. 

Tomorrow evening, all the Marauders will be in this house. Lily still can’t believe she actually invited all of them. Not just James, not just Remus but Sirius and Peter as well. In her defense, when you talk to one marauder you talk to all of them, Lily should know that by now. It’s like a pay one-take-three kind of deal: you can’t have one without having the whole group. But above all, you can’t have James without including Sirius as well and Lily would never, never get in the way of their friendship. So yes, when she suggested the idea of coming visit during the summer to James and the rest of the marauders was right there next to him, Lily couldn’t not extending the offer to the whole group. She is not regretting it, though. Having them over is going to be good for her family …. Petunia excluded, of course. They bring joy and laughter everywhere they go. It’s going to be a great day.

And with that comforting thought, sleep washes over Lily, silencing her worries for the whole night. 

*

The next morning, Lily wakes up early and in a good mood. Which is a very unusual event for her given the fact that waking up early and being in a good mood are two things that don’t usually mix up very well together. But nothing will be ordinary for the Evans today so better starting off right from the top.

Only when Lily goes down to the kitchen she realizes that everyone is still asleep so she jumps on the opportunity to prepare some breakfast before the whole family gets up and ready for the day. After pulling out her wand, Lily waves it and one second later pans and ingredients are flying through the air: Lily smiles satisfied as she hears the bacon sizzling on the stove, scrambled eggs being made and the smell of coffee filling the room.

When everything is done and ready to be eaten, four plates automatically float out from the cupboard to land gently on the table and that’s the moment when Lily’s parents enter the room.

“Honey.” her mother doesn’t even try to hide how surprised she is to see her up and moving at this time of the morning. “You are up early.” 

“You made breakfast.” Lily’s father says after kissing her on the head.

“I am and I did.” Lily says, putting the wand away under the robe. She grabs three mugs and starts pouring hot coffee in all of them as their parents take a seat at the table.

“That was really nice of you.”

Lily scrolls her shoulders, smiling, as she leaves the two mugs on the table. “I’m in a good mood.” 

She doesn’t know why she said that aloud. It’s like it slipped out of her mouth and of course her parents notice immediately. Lily can see their smirks from behind their mugs. If Petunia and Vernon are made for each other in a negative way, as in “mean people complete each other and need to stay together” kind of way, George and Poppy Evans are exactly what Lily has always described as true love. Rare are the times she has seen them fighting over the years and when those times come they always find a way to peacefully come back to each other. They are good and kind people, their hearts always in the right place. Wether Lily has inherited those great qualities or not is still very not clear to her.

Poppy Evans leaves her mug on the table and then claps her hands together. “I’m so excited to meet your friends, this evening. What time are they coming?”

“They should be here around 6 o’clock.”

“Brilliant. We have enough time to make everything as perfect as possible.” 

“They are just some friends, mom.” Lily feels the urgent need to remind her.

“Yes but they are your friends. New friends that we’ve never met before.”

“Aside from Remus.” her father chimes in. 

“Aside from Remus.” her mother repeats.

“Just … don’t stress yourself too much, okay?” Lily doesn’t know why she’s taking the trouble to ask that; she knows her mother and she will definitely stress too much about the whole thing until everything won’t be as perfect as possible.

Her mother ignores her. “I was thinking of going groceries shopping later, maybe after lunch. We need a couple of things. You are more than welcome to join me, if you’d like?”

“I'd love to, mom. Thank you.”

Her mother stands up from her chair and starts opening random drawers in the kitchen. “Let me make a list of what we need so I’m sure I won’t forget anything.”

Lily looks at her father, too busy devouring his scrambled eggs to get involved in the conversation. “Are they good?” she asks him, laughing a little.

“Best scrambled eggs I ever eaten.” he claims, before shoving the rest of them into his mouth. “I bet the secret ingredient is only one.” he adds once he’s done chewing. He gives Lily a mischievous smile but she already knows what he’s about to say before he says it.

And her mother knows it too apparently since she tops rummaging through the drawer to give his husband a super annoyed look . “Not again, George.”

“Yes, dad. Not again.”

Her father claps his hands repeatedly like a baby begging his parents to give him ice cream. “Please, please, please. Just ask me! Please.”

Lily would love to say no. She’s heard that joke so many times and it’s really not that funny to be honest and she’s quite sick of it too but she loves his dad, though and because she loves his dad she can’t really stop him from being an adorable dork who makes the family laugh in every way he can.

“What’s the secret ingredient, dad?” Lily asks, her flat voice an indicator of all those several times she and her mother have asked the same question since the truth about Lily came out.

Her father pauses for a time long enough to create the right amount of suspense and then he says: “A little bit of magic, of course.” and taps his hands on the table three times, in a weird imitation of the drumroll sound.

Lily laughs and she’s not faking it. Today is really going to be a day full of surprises and Lily can’t wait to experience them all. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this but I kind of missed your silly jokes.”

“AH!” her father cries out, pointing a finger right into his wife’s face. “See? Someone actually likes my sense of humor, Poppy.”

“That’s because she doesn’t have to listen to you telling the same jokes over and over again, George.”

“I’m an extremely funny person, dear. Don’t block my creativity.”

Lily’s mother shakes her head, slowly but she’s smiling which is a good sign. She always smiles when it comes to her husband. That’s how much in love they still are after many years of marriage.

“What are you looking for?” Lily eventually asks as her mother goes back to rooting around in the drawer.

“A piece of paper and a pen.” her mother replies, exasperated. “I always keep them in here, just in case we nee- …” 

Before she could finish the sentence, Lily pulls out her wand again. An excited sound escapes from his father’s mouth as she shakes it in the air and one of her pens together with a piece of paper hurtling out of her room, down the stairs and into the kitchen, landing on the table.

“Brilliant.” It’s all her father says, his voice filled with unmistakable emotion. And yes, Lily has to admit it: since she’s turned 17 years old, she’s been using magic for the most useless things at home only to see her father this happy and proud.

“Ohhh, you really need to teach me how to do that.” Her mother jokingly says as she sits back down. She grabs the pen and the paper and very quickly starts making a list of all the things she needs to buy. “ That was pretty impressive, by the way. You using magic without saying a word.” she keeps saying without looking up.

Lily blinks a couple of times, confused.

“That’s true.” her father says. “I didn’t realize you stayed silent. I always thought you had to say …” he wiggles his fingers in the air. “you know, words, name spells.”

Lily clears her throat, taken aback by how interested and impressed her parents are. “I do, actually. But they taught us how to cast nonverbal spells last year so I’m trying to practice every time I can. Summoning charms are pretty easy to do, though, both verbal and not, so it’s not a big deal.”

Lily’s mother is looking at her now, the pen still trapped between her fingers. “I don’t know, it seems like a big deal to me.”

“I always knew you were going to be such a great witch.” her father is literally beaming. “Sometimes I wish I could meet your teachers like we did with you sister. I bet we would hear only great things about you.”

Lily feels her heart swelling up with happiness and before she realizes it, she is up to her feet, touring the table to get close to her father and give him one of the tightest hugs she’s ever given in her whole life. If Lily had to choose one negative side of being a witch and studying so far away from home not seeing her parents every day would probably be it. She loves them and she misses them every day when she is at Hogwarts.

Her father reciprocates the hug the best he can from his seated position. “I’m so happy to have you back home, Lily.”

“I’m happy to be here. I missed you so much. Both of you.”

“And we missed you.” Her mother’s voice is shaking with emotions as she reaches out with her arm to grab Lily’s hand. “ All of us. Your sister too.”

“Actually, I didn’t.” A sharp voice says. Lily looks up to see Petunia walking into the kitchen, not smiling and still in her sleepwear.

“Good morning, honey.” her parents say in one voice. Petunia kisses both of them on the cheeks and completely ignores Lily as she walks away from her father and goes back to her chair.

“Try the eggs, Tunia. They are great.” 

Lily hides a smile behind the mug as she sees her sister scooping some scrambled eggs into her plate and shoving a forkful inside her mouth.

She makes a satisfied groan.“They are excellent, dad! Did you make them?”

Lily takes the floor very quickly and with great enthusiasm. “He did, actually. Woke up before anyone else to prepare breakfast for the whole family. He made coffee, too. Here.” Lily is up to her feet again to grab a mug from the cupboard and pouring some coffee in it. “Best coffee I’ve ever had.” Lily adds as she leaves the mug into Petunia’s hands.

Her sister is staring at her suspiciously. Lily is smiling so big the muscles of her face starts to feel already sore but she doesn’t care. Petunia, who hates magic more than anything, is eating something made through magic. It might seems nothing but Lily can’t stop smiling because of it, not even with Petunia angrily staring at her. She doesn’t think too much about it, though because after spending the right amount of time killing Lily through her eyes, Petunia starts sipping her coffee and eating her breakfast like it's not a big deal.

“I’m in a good mood.” Lily says again as if it isn’t a pretty clear fact to everyone already.

“What’s that?” Petunia asks her mother, craning her long neck to give the list a proper look. 

“Oh nothing, dear. Just a bunch of things I need to buy for tonight. ” 

That must have lit something in Petunia’s head because she makes a face and very slowly turns to glare at Lily. “ Your friends are still coming?”

“They are.”

Petunia purses her lips. “Very well, then. I’ll be at Vernon’s place for the whole day.”

Her mother’s reply comes very quickly, probably because she already knew what Petunia was about to say. As if they already discussed about it hundreds of time before. “Don’t be silly, darling. Lily met Vernon without arguing.” Which is a lie. Lily did argue about it and she still does, sometimes in her mind, sometimes with her father but she’s smart enough to never do that in front of her mother. “So you are going to meet her friends, too.”

“I don’t care about her stupid friends. They are her friends, not mine! She met Vernon because he’s part of my life and I want to marry him, one day …”

“Really?” Lily and her father say, the first one amused by the fact that someone would actually decide to marry Vernon willingly while the second one terrified for the same reason.

Petunia keeps rambling. “I don’t want to meet them, okay? They are like her.” She looks at Lily with disgust painted all over her face. “Why do you keep ruining my life ?”

“For the same reasons you keep ruining mine.” Lily replies.

“I’m not the monster, here.”

“I’m not sure about that, Tunia.” 

“ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!” 

Her mother’s scream echoes in the room and Lily knows better than trying to speak again. She stays silent but keeps looking at Petunia and Petunia keeps looking at her.

“I don’t mind.” Lily says calmly after a while. “She doesn’t have to stay if she doesn’t want to.” 

Lily’s parents turn to look at her at the same time and with the same warning look. Yes, going back to stay silent again.

“You are staying.” her father declares eventually. “End of story.”

Petunia sighs very, very angrily. She stomps her feet on the floor, pushing the chair backward as she stands up. “I HATE THIS.” She screams and her eyes are fixed on Lily because she wants Lily to understands that the “this” she’s talking about it’s actually a person, Lily herself. As if she didn’t know that already.

Even though she wants to, Lily doesn’t reply and that makes Petunia even more angrier apparently because the next thing she does is running away from the kitchen. Two seconds later they hear the sound of a door being shut.

Her father leans toward her with a little smirk plastered on his face. “Still in a good mood?”

Lily smirks back at him. “Always.” 

*

“So, tell me about this James of yours.”

Lily knew what she was getting into the moment she accepted her mother’s offer to go groceries shopping with her. After his father’s unsuccessful attempt at finding out more about James last night now it is obviously her mother’s turn to ask questions. And Poppy Evans can be a much more persuasive person than her husband is if she wants something really bad. Knowing about her daughter’s love life is definitely something that falls into that category. 

“Okay, first of all he’s not my James.” Lily says calmly, next to her. She really feels the need to clarify that.

They are on their way back home from the supermarket, her mother driving at average speed. The sun is shining high on the little city of Cokeworth, the sky is blue with only a couple of clouds scattered around. There is a pleasant breeze blowing outside, thankfully so the heat doesn’t get too much. 

It’s been a great afternoon so far. Lily always forgets how much she loves spending time with her mother. She’s funny, super smart, and a great listener without being too nosy. They talked about her school, Lily’s confusing plans once she finishes her last year at Hogwarts, how the girlfriends are doing and what’s the latest gossip in the magic world. Lily answered all the questions, happy and grateful to see her mother so interested in her life even though she is not a constant part of it anymore.

“You seem pretty happy about him coming to visit, though.”

“He’s not the only one who is coming. Other people are coming. You and dad seem to keep forgetting about this little detail.”

One of her mother’s hands leaves the steering wheel to adjust the sunglasses on the bridge of her nose. “Come on, tell me! I want to know something. I can tell you like this boy. You get all nervous every time we talk about him.” She steals a glance at Lily very quickly and then goes back to look at the road, laughing. “And you blush, too!”

“I’m not blushing.” Lily tries to say casually but her voice comes out too high and her cheeks are already on fire. She makes a frustrated sound. There is no point in keep lying. “I might like him and he likes me too. It’s just weird because I used to hate him and he used to make me so mad and annoyed and now it’s different. He is different. Or maybe he’s always been this good and kind person but I was so focused on hating him that I just …” Lily stops talking, not knowing what to say next. 

“Why did you hate him?” her mother asks. She stops at a traffic light and she turns her head to give her daughter a curious and interested look.

“We just didn’t get along from the beginning and I guess I just stuck with that idea of him in my mind.” Lily shakes her head. “He and his group of friends used to bully Severus a lot.”

“And of course you didn’t like it.”

“I didn’t.” Lily confirms, staring ahead of her. The traffic light turns green and they start moving again. “Severus was not a saint, though. Always sticking his nose into other’s people business. And now James stopped bullying him whenever he could and I don’t know …” and the funny thing is that Lily really doesn’t know. 

“That’s why you and Severus are not friends anymore? Because you like James?”

Lily shoots her mother a questioning look. She is pretty sure she’s never mentioned a thing about her friendship with Severus during the last couple of years. “How do you …” she starts asking but her mother cuts her off with a laugh.

“I’m your mother, Lily. I know. I always know.”

And it sounds more like a threaten than an explanation.

“Severus made his choices.” Lily says carefully. “Choices I don’t agree with.” she explains with a shaking voice. “He is not the person I thought he was.” And that is the complete truth. It hurts, it did hurt then and it hurts now and Lily thinks it will never stop hurting, at this point. But that’s how things are: not matter what she sees and what she hears … a part of Lily will always care for him. Even if it’s wrong and Lily knows it’s wrong. There’s nothing she can do about it. 

“I’m sorry, honey. It’s always hard to loose a friend.” her mother’s voice brings her back inside the car. “Maybe if you talked to him …”

“No.” Lily says harshly. This thing between them isn’t definitely something that can be fixed with a chat over a cup of coffee. It is final and right now, that’s the only thing in her life that she’s sure about.

They don’t say anything else for the rest of the journey but when Lily’s mother parks in their driveway, neither of them gets out of the car.

“Do you think James is a good person?” 

Lily nods immediately. “ I do.”

“Then stop thinking about it too much.”

It seems so easy so why can’t Lily just follow her mother’s advice? Why can’t she stop thinking about all the bad things that could happen and start thinking about all the good things that could happen instead?

What about the war, though? Because it isn’t a remote possibility or just some hypothetical talk. It’s reality, it’s happening right now while Lily and her family are getting ready to welcome a bunch of her friends for dinner. But what does it mean? That their lives have to stop because of the war? That Lily and her friends will never be happy because a psychopath is planning on taking over the magic world and achieving pure-blood dominance by getting rid of muggles and everyone who doesn’t agree with his disgusting beliefs? That’s not living, that’s just … surviving. 

“Yeah, maybe.” Lily says eventually, fidgeting with the sleeves of her jacket.

Her mother kisses her on the head. “ You are a good person, too, Lily. You deserve to experience good things. And James might be one of them if you let it happen.”

*

Lily is going crazy. Literally going crazy. Why did she invite them over? What was she thinking? She isn’t ready to introduce this weird group of people to her parents and most importantly she isn’t ready to see James again.

First of all, she has nothing appropriate to wear. Her closet is full of wonderful clothes, Lily knows that because she takes fashion very, very seriously but right now every pair of pants, every t-shirt, every dress .. they all seem boring and old and very out of line for a special occasion like this one. What special occasion, anyway? There is nothing special about this whole thing. It is just a couple of friends coming over to visit her during the summer. How is it any different from all those times when Mary, Marlene and Dorcas visited her over the past several years ? If Lily recalls right, there was no nervous breakdown involved. 

Lily takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. Everything is going to be fine. It’s just a dinner with her friends, her parents and Petunia. Remus will be here too and nothing can go wrong with Remus keeping the rest of the marauders in line. Another deep breath and Lily’s eyes snap open again.

She looks at her reflection in the mirror. The dress she’s wearing is creamy-white, with short-sleeves and a few inches above the knee. It is a beautiful dress, one of Lily’s latest and favorite purchases and she looks amazing in it. That’s what Dorcas would tell her if she was here. But she’s not so Lily needs to step up and take control. Her hair is perfect, her make-up is on point and the dress is fitting her perfectly.

It’s 5:50 pm. Another deep breath. They will be here at any minute.

Her father screams her name from downstairs and Lily knows it’s time. She wears some flat shoes of the same color of the dress and then flies in the living room, her heart beating fast and hard against her ribcage.

Petunia is sitting on the couch, her black hair tied up in a perfect bun on the top of her head. She’s wearing a lovely, purple dress that Lily has never seen before and she looks bored and annoyed as usual. 

“Nice of you to finally show up, Princess.” she says turning off the tv and getting off the couch.

“Aww, you were sad without me, Tuni?” 

Petunia ignores her. “Mom has been cooking the whole day for your freak friends. The least you could do was helping her, don’t you think?”

“First, I asked if she needed help multiple times but she said no and second I don’t recall you helping her with every dinner she had to prepare for your stupid boyfriend.”

“Vernon is not stupid. And it was only him, one person. Not four. It’s different.”

“Given the fact that he eats for five it’s not that different, trust me.”

“How dare yo-” 

Petunia’s voice drops completely as her father walks into the room. 

George Evans stops in his track when he sees her daughters standing next to each other by the couch. He looks at the them like a father who can’t believe how much his two little girls have grown up over the past couple of years. “My girls are so beautiful.” he says, eventually, his voice a mix of contrasting emotions.

Lily smiles at him but it’s Petunia the one answering. “Thank you, dad."

He comes closer and wrap both the girls into a tight and very, very awkward embrace. Lily doesn’t remember the last time she and Petunia hugged and actually felt it but it was definitely long time ago. Her father is quite tall and he’s keeping them pressed against his chest, his arms wrapped around their shoulders. Lily feels Petunia moving away from her but she doesn’t break the hug, probably because she knows how much all of this means to her father. One thing they both agree with. They stay in that position for a while and it’s like time has stopped only to make this precise moment as long and awkward as possible. Then, finally, the doorbell rings.

And Petunia is faster than her. “I’ll go.” she says as she slips away from the hug. Lily is about to stop her sister and tell her that she should be the one opening the door since they are her friends but then her mother comes running into the living room in a fury. She grabs Lily’s arm. Her hold is strong enough to block any movement toward the door.

“How do I look?” she asks, as she tucks strands of hair behind her ears. She pinches her cheeks and smoothes her long and white dress. “My goodness, I’m so nervous.”

“Mom, you look perfect.” Lily reassures her.

“You look as beautiful as the day I met you, love.” her father says at the same time.

“Take a deep breath, both of you.” Lily says as if her own heart isn’t beating so fast it could literally explode at any minute. “You are meeting my friends, not queen Elizabeth.”

Her father scoffs. “We would never go this far for queen Elizabeth.”

Lily laughs but then she hears the sound of the lock clicking and the door opening and she literally stops functioning. For a moment, everything is silent and then Petunia’s flustered voice fills the hallway.

“Oh sweet jesus.”

“Uhm ….” 

“Who?”

“I don’t know, I’m confused.”

“Peter, say something.’”

“Why me? Ask Remus!”

Someone scoffs. “I bet Evans gave us the wrong address on purpose.”

“She would never do that!” James says very quickly. Nobody replies and James speaks again a few seconds later. “She'd definitely do that.”

Lily doesn’t know how but she’s pretty sure to hear Remus Lupin literally rolling his eyes outside her house. “You are all embarrassing.” he says with the voice of a person who is used to this nonsense, isn’t happy about it but accepts it either way. “I know where Lily lives. I’ve been here before hence I know this is the right address.”

“And Remus Lupin never gets things wrong, right?”

“I most certainly don't.” he replies and then, kindly, he adds: “Hello, Petunia. I’m Remus. We met last year. Do you remember me?”

At that point, Petunia lets out a really high pitched squeak and then, because the whole situation isn’t crazy and weird enough obviously, she literally runs away from the door without saying anything else. Two seconds later, she’s back into the living room, red as a tomato and breathless.

“I guess she doesn’t remember you very well, Moony.”

“I guess not …”

Someone gasps, probably James. “How can someone not remember my sweet Rem? Look at this face. Look at him.” Yes, definitely James.

“I love that face.” Sirius agrees.

“I feel like you need a hug.” James’s voice is full of love, as always when he talks about and to his friends. “I know you like hugs, let’s hug.” 

“I love hugs.” Remus says. Lily hears a lot of rustling, some grunting and then nothing more. She almost wants to laugh not because she finds the whole thing funny but because, and she can’t believe she’s about to admit it to herself, she has actually missed this. The marauders’s displays of affection are as famous as the marauders themselves at Hogwarts.

She smiles at her parents before heading toward the door. 

What she sees makes her heart fill with so much love Lily can almost sense a large amount of it pouring out in her chest. The marauders are literally locked in an unbreakable group hug, Remus at the center of it. Lily can barely see him, actually, because of how much he’s been squeezed but she would recognize that mass of light-brown hair everywhere.

Lily feels sorry to intrude on this very delicate and very private moment but she simply can’t help herself. “You guys are super adorable.” she says as they break the hug, giving each others several pats on the shoulders.

“EVANS!”

“LILY!”

The first one to get to her is Remus, of course. The girl doesn’t waste any second, though and throws herself at him, who is more than ready to catch her and do a quick spin on the spot as he holds her tight against his chest.

“I missed you.” Rem whispers in her ear before letting her go. 

Lily smiles at him very brightly. “I missed you, too.” she says, cupping his face in her hands. She looks into her best friend’s eyes and sees exhaustion and anxiety dancing while holding hands. The two scars crossing his face are as visible as ever now that the full moon is only one week away. 

“How are you feeling?”

Remus shrugs as one of his usual sweet smile takes form on his face. He grabs Lily’s hands and lowers them down, without letting them go. “You know me. I’m always fine.”

Sirius swoops in, grabbing Remus by his shoulders, pulling him closer and wrapping an arm around his neck. “You know him, Evans. He’s always a liar, too.”

“Classic marauder behavior.”

Sirius Black smirks at her. “Proudly.” he says before reaching out, his hand clenched into a fist. Lily smirks back at him as she bumps her closed fist against his. This is how it is between the two of them. Peter smiles coyly not knowing what to do and Lily decides to put him out of his misery by pulling him into a quick and friendly hug.

“Thanks for inviting me.” Peter says when Lily lets him go.

“Thanks for coming. I’m happy to have you here.”

“And here I was, thinking it was just about me.”

And Lily has absolutely no idea why she’s already smiling like an idiot or why her heart is literally jumping in her chest and her knees are turning into jellybean, she really has no idea whatsoever about what and why is happening to her this very, specific moment but she needs to take a grip of herself, for Merlin’s beard. She used to hate the hell out of this guy and now she can’t even keep it together at the sound of his voice? Absolutely not.

But when she turns around and James Potter is right there, in all his glory, looking at her, Lily can feel the control slipping away from her hands. And there’s nothing she can do about it.

James is looking at her through round glasses with his bright hazel eyes. Of course, he is smiling because that’s the way he is, he always smiles. It’s like he’s taken it upon himself to spread joy and happiness around him and the thing is … he is pretty good at it, too. Lily has never seen someone not smiling when James is around. His dark, always tousled hair is a little longer and a little curlier than Lily remembers and part of it falls adorably on his forehead. His skin is slightly tanned just like Sirius’s is and Lily deduces the two of them have been spending some quality time together on a beach somewhere.

“Nothing is about you, Potter.”

James puts a hand on his chest, melodramatically. “You are already breaking my heart, Evans and I’ve been here for only ten minutes now. New record, if you ask me.”

“Two of the things I love breaking the most: your heart and new records.”

They move at the same time and before she knows it, Lily finds herself wrapped into James’s big arms. For a moment, she’s pretty sure that they both forget not only the other three guys standing next to them but also the rest of Lily’s family waiting for them in the living room.

“You are beautiful, by the way.” he whispers and Lily is glad that he can’t see her face.

“Thanks.” she says with a dreamy smile. “By the way.” 

When they break the hug everything feels a bit awkward and Lily cannot decide if it’s because other people are watching or because she didn’t really want to let James go. Pathetic.

“It felt like it was a very private and very intimate moment.” Peter whispers, his voice filled with sincere emotion.

“Yeah." Sirius agrees with the same tone of voice. " I thought Prongs was about to propose to her or get her pregnant right in front of us.” 

“I usually like being offered a drink or two first before discussing future marriage proposals. No kids, though.” Lily says with a smirk. Then she looks at James and winks at him. “Just a heads-up!”

He winks back. “Heads-up noted, Evans.”

“Okay before going in …” Remus claps his hands once, claiming the attention of his friends. “I think it’s strictly necessary discussing some mandatory rules that all of you absolutely need to stick to because I say so.”

Sirius’s hand snaps in the air, immediately. “I have a question.”

“No, thank you.”

“I have a question, too.” James chimes in as he ruffles his hair.

“You can’t ignore two questions, Moony.”

Remus closes his eyes and takes a very deep, very long breath before opening them again and smiling at his two best friends. “Go ahead. Ask.”

Sirius speaks first. “When you say rules you mean like things that shouldn’t be broken ….”

“ …. or like things that can be broken and it’s just for us to choose?” James concludes, doing that touching-the-chin-with-the-fingers thing that people usually do when thinking very hard about something.

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Let’s also discuss the part where you said “all of you” but what you really meant was just me and Prongs. " Sirius continues. "I know what that is. It’s a jab. A big one, too.”

“ Yeah, it’s like you are hundred percent sure that we are going to screw things up."

“That’s because I’m hundred percent sure that you two are going to screw things up."

Lily hides a smile behind her hand. Here it comes.

“What about Tail, then?” James asks.

They all turn to look at Peter, who smiles back innocently. “I know how to behave myself in the presence of muggles.”

Remus nods. “The rules are simple: don’t be rude, don’t use magic if it’s not necessary and mostly don’t use magic on Petunia.”

Sirius groans, tilting his head back dramatically. “Can you be more evil?”

“Ask me next week, during the full moon.”

“For the record … “ Lily starts saying with a smile. “My parents love magic. So, as long as you boys don’t exaggerate like you usually do, feel free to use it in front of them.”

Remus snaps his fingers and points at Lily. “You heard the boss.”

“What about your sister, though?” Sirius asks, hopeful. 

“She’s off limit, sorry.”

James throws his hands in the air and when he lowers them down one ends up in his hair again. “Two weeks spent planning hundreds of pranks for nothing.”

“I told you it was useless.” Remus sounds very much pleased with himself. “Now, since I’ve known you for a very long time and I know that a bunch of rules won’t definitely stop you from acting like fuckheads …”

Sirius starts elbowing James, who elbows back immediately. “He’s right.” James says between the snickers.

“…. I decided to establish the strike method.”

“The strike method?” James asks.

“The strike method!” Remus replies.

“Uuuh.” Sirius says tapping his fingertips against each others. “Sounds fun. What’s that?”

“You’ve got three strikes apiece. Every time you say or do something inappropriate you get a strike. Three strikes and you are out.” 

“And what happens when you are out?”

“No full moons adventures for a whole month."

Sirius grunts.“That’s not fun.” He shakes his head, his long and dark, curly hair flying around his face. “You are lucky that I like you, Rem.”

It’s Remus’s turn to roll his eyes, this time. “Yeah, I’m the luckiest man on earth.” he replies with sarcasm in his voice but a happy smile plastered on his face. "For the record, Sir, you already got one strike.”

“WHAT?” Sirius cries out. “HOW? WHEN?”

“Earlier, when you joked about James proposing and impregnating Lily in front of us.”

“But that was not a joke. I actually thought he was about to do both. In front of us. I was being serious. Weren't you listening to me?”

“I agree with Rem, here.” Lily steps in, smiling diabolically.

Sirius gives her the stink-eye. “Really, Evans? Siding with Remus? Couldn’t you be more predictable?”

James grabs his best friend from the shoulders and gives him some encouraging pats on the back. “It’s okay, man. It’s just one strike. There’s no shame in having one strike.” 

“I’m glad you are saying this, Prongs, because you got one too.”

James lets Sirius go with a push. “ WHAT? WHY?” 

“You keep rumpling your hair.” Remus simply replies. “It’s stupid so please stop.”

“That’s true.” Lily, Sirius and Peter say together, at the same time.

“Fine.” James mutters like a baby who just got grounded for a month.”I just want to emphasis how incredibly unfair this is. I didn’t know to be in a competition ….”

“That’s because this is not a competition.”

“ …. and by the look of it, I’m loosing at it, too. I don’t like loosing.”

Sirius nods vigorously. “Yes, that’s right. And I don’t remember making you … ” Sirius points at Remus. “ … the make ruler of the group. So why are you taking all these decisions that you clearly didn’t discuss with us beforehand?”

“I didn’t know I was supposed to discuss things with you beforehand.”

Sirius narrows his eyes. "You know, I get why Evans number 2 didn't recognize you earlier. Were you bossy and unpleasant with her, too?”

Rem pretends very dramatically to think about what to say. "No." he replies eventually." It just comes naturally with you.” 

“Everything comes naturally with me.”

Peter claps his hands, enthusiastic. “This could be the first time I might win at something, I’m very excited.”

“Oh, Pete." James whispers, wrapping his friend into a one-sided hug. "That’s sad.”

“What? It’s not sad.”

“It is.”

They keep bickering for a while and Lily just takes some additional time to look at them. Everything feels so unreal right now but she also feels happy, very happy. She can’t stop smiling … watching the marauders fighting on her doorstep is exactly what she’s been waiting for the whole summer. She was so nervous about this moment and only now she realizes it was so unnecessary. These guys are pure joy and her parents are going to have an amazing time, tonight. Lily is sure about this.

“Lil?” Remus is calling her. She looks at him and notices that the four marauders are looking back at her, expectantly.

She moves to one side, pointing to the hallway of her home and smiling she asks: “Shall we go in?”


End file.
